Eyes closed, Fritz walked down the center aisle of the library in total darkness, his fingers scraping against the spines of one book after another. It wasn’t so bad; in fact it was kind of interesting to feel the world instead of see it. Thick, thin, leathery, smooth, he had no idea what books he was touching, but he was amazed at how different they all felt. He had never noticed that before. Of course none of them felt as good as Ruby did.
Her arm was entwined with his, and although he could only feel a small patch of her skin, it was incredibly smooth. He figured she must use mounds of moisturizer to get it that soft. His skin, in contrast, was kind of rough in places.
He opened his right eye, just a crack, to take a peek at her. Amazing! She was one of those girls who looked just as good in profile as they did if you looked at them straight on. Fritz thought it had to do with her nose. Ruby’s was perfect—not too big and, thankfully, not too small, not one of those little pug noses some girls had that Fritz hated, that made them look like they were always putting on airs, thinking they were too fancy for their own good. Her nose was even prettier than Phaedra’s, and Phaedra had a really nice one. Ruby’s best feature, however, were her eyes.
Peering at the girl through one half-closed eye, it was like he was spying on her through a keyhole.
Fritz only saw a sliver, but it was enough. He could only see her left eye, but even from this angle it was sparkling blue, filled with light, and though it was useless it appeared to have focus. Unblinking, Ruby glided down the aisle like somebody who could see. She didn’t stumble; she didn’t trip; she didn’t question her path. Fritz figured it had something to do with the expertise of her guide.
A smile formed on Ruby’s lips, and she slowly turned to face him. Wow, he thought, she looked like she was really looking at him, like she could really see him. But if she could, then she could also see that his eyes weren’t closed like he had said they were when they started to walk down the aisle.
Maybe he was being paranoid, but Fritz got the strong sensation that Ruby knew he was lying.
He shut his eyes tight and was engulfed by darkness once again. He faced front, and his fingers now held onto the edge of the bookshelves for support as he walked, every once in a while getting whacked by the partitions that separated the various collections. Fritz was so discombobulated he couldn’t even remember what book Ruby needed to find, let alone what section they were supposed to wind up in.
Was it history? No, that wasn’t it. Maybe classical mythology? He had no idea, so of course he started to panic and pick up speed. If you have no idea where you’re going, might as well try to get there as fast as possible. Until you crash into something and get knocked to the ground.
“What the ... !”
When Fritz opened his eyes he saw Ruby staring down at him and Ciaran lying in a similarly awkward position at his side. “Eaves! What the hell?!” Fritz cried out. “Why’d you knock me down?”
“I didn’t knock you down,” Ciaran shouted back. “You knocked into me.”
“I didn’t even see you!”
“That’s ’cause you had your bloody eyes closed!”
“He was doing it for me.”
Ruby’s voice shut both boys up and reminded them that they weren’t alone. Scrambling to stand, they both automatically started to brush their hair back into place and tuck their shirts in, even though the object of their admiration couldn’t tell if they were unkempt or picture perfect.
“Hi, Ruby,” Ciaran said, a bit out of breath.
“Hi, Ciaran,” the girl replied, staring right in his direction. “Fancy meeting you here.”
Not fancy at all, calculated actually. After his rather disappointing conversation with Saoirse, Ciaran had decided to take action and make a move before Fritz made too much headway in his pursuit of Ruby. Turned out to be a worthwhile risk. “I’m always here,” Ciaran lied. “Working on a paper or something.”
“Then maybe you can help me,” Ruby said, reaching out to touch Ciaran’s arm. “Would you happen to know where the science books are?”
Science! Fritz finally remembered where they were supposed to be heading.
“I need to do some research on a horticulture project, and Professor Chow told me the library actually had some books in Braille on the subject—not a complete section, but mixed in with the regular books about science,” Ruby explained. “And it seems that Fritz has lost his way.”
“I did not!” Fritz protested. “I know this library like I know the back of my bleedin’ hand.”
“So were you, uh, taking the scenic route?” Ciaran asked.
Fritz felt like pushing Ciaran against the bookshelf for making such a crack, but when he heard Ruby laugh he realized it
Shocked, Ciaran couldn’t believe how inappropriate Fritz could be, but surprisingly, Ruby laughed hardest of all at the joke. Both boys were impressed with how well she was transitioning; neither one thought they could be as resilient. But both thought they could be a better escort.
“Take my arm,” Fritz and Ciaran said at the same time.
Proving to be as diplomatic as she was attractive, Ruby offered a compromise. “How about you each take one arm?”
Flanking the girl on either side, the boys guided her to the small section in the far end of the library that contained books on horticulture. Fritz had never been in this part of St. Joshua’s before, but Ciaran knew it quite well; it was the only part of the library that housed any type of scientific reference book, the bulk of them being stored in the Einstein Wing. “I think this might be what you’re looking for,” Ciaran said, pulling out a very thick, oversized book that looked more like a giant photo album than a textbook.
“Blimey, that thing is huge!” Fritz remarked as Ciaran passed the book over to Ruby.
She ran her fingers over a series of raised bumps on the book’s cover and said, “This
Smiling proudly, for Fritz’s benefit of course and not Ruby’s, he replied, “My pleasure.”
Fritz made a face and mouthed the words “my pleasure” to mock his friend, which only made them both start to laugh. “What’s so funny?” Ruby asked.
Not wanting to rat on his friend, Ciaran made a generalization that he hoped Ruby would understand. “It’s just Fritz being Fritz.”
“I can only imagine,” Ruby replied, clutching her book close to her chest. “My brother told me all about how cheeky you can be.”
Despite his reputation, Fritz tried to defend himself. “Penry called me cheeky?!”
For a moment Ruby seemed distracted. She was staring directly in between both boys, almost as if she was trying to look through the bookshelf to see what or who was on the other side. Neither boy noticed, however, as they were too busy staring at Ruby themselves. After a few seconds, Ruby refocused and tilted her head toward Fritz. “I know you’ve been on your best behavior, but I know all about your shady past,” she said in a hushed whisper. “Remember, Penry and I were twins. If he didn’t tell me something, I just had to read his mind.”
If touche had a facial expression, it was being worn by Ciaran. Fritz, on the other hand, looked like he had just been force fed several jumbo pieces of humble pie. After a long pause, Ruby burst out laughing. She didn’t need sight to know that her little hoax had had its desired effect. “Gotcha, Ulrich!”
Using Fritz’s silence to his advantage, Ciaran led Ruby over to an empty table in a corner of the library. As he watched her deftly pull an assortment of objects out of her backpack, he realized this girl was quite self- sufficient and didn’t need an ounce of anyone’s pity. What she did command, however, was respect.
“What’s that?” Ciaran asked as Ruby placed a small device that looked like an e-book with a detachable keyboard on the table.
“It’s a blind student’s best friend,” she replied, attaching the keyboard to the tablet. “An electronic notebook. I can type in notes, and then it’ll play them back to me with text-to-voice software.”
“That’s amazing!” Fritz exclaimed.
“It really is,” Ruby agreed. “I don’t think I could survive here without it.” Once again she looked at the boys as if she could really see them. “Or without my new friends.”
“Ruby!”
The girl had even more friends than she knew. Or could hear. Imogene was going to run out from behind the bookshelf, but she was so happy to see Penry’s twin sister that she ran right through it.
